Gregg Blundell Explained

Gregg Blundell
Full Name:Gregg Steven Blundell
Birth Date:3 October 1977
Birth Place:Liverpool, England
Position:Striker
Years1:1994–1997
Years2:1997
Years3:1997–2001
Years4:2001–2003
Years5:2003–2005
Years6:2005–2007
Years7:2007–2009
Years8:2008
Years9:2009
Years10:2009
Years11:2010–2011
Clubs1:Tranmere Rovers
Clubs2:Knowsley United
Clubs3:Vauxhall Motors
Clubs4:Northwich Victoria
Clubs5:Doncaster Rovers
Clubs6:Chester City
Clubs7:Darlington
Clubs8:Accrington Stanley (loan)
Clubs9:Chester City
Clubs10:Barrow (loan)
Clubs11:Barrow
Caps1:0
Caps4:90
Caps5:86
Caps6:57
Caps7:71
Caps8:2
Caps9:[1]
Caps10:19
Caps11:9
Goals1:0
Goals4:39
Goals5:28
Goals6:12
Goals7:10
Goals8:0
Goals10:2
Goals11:0
Totalcaps:334
Totalgoals:91
Nationalyears1:2003
Nationalcaps1:1
Nationalgoals1:0

Gregg Steven Blundell (born 3 October 1977) is an English retired footballer who played as a striker. He is now a physiotherapist for Liverpool. Prior to his appointment at Tranmere he combined playing football and being the club's physiotherapist at Barrow AFC[2] in the Conference National.[3]

Football career

Early career

Gregg started as a trainee at Tranmere Rovers but was released. After a spell with Knowsley United, he began a prolific scoring record with Vauxhall Motors, who rose through the non-league pyramid in his spell there. The goals continued to flow after a move to Football Conference club Northwich Victoria in 2001. Despite playing for a side in the bottom half of the table, Blundell had a strong scoring record. This prompted a move to Conference promotion chasers Doncaster Rovers in March 2003.

Doncaster Rovers

Blundell's first season with Rovers ended with his promotion to the Football League, after play-off wins over future club Chester City and Dagenham & Redbridge. His belated Football League debut at Leyton Orient on 9 August 2003 saw him open the scoring in a 3–1 win, as Rovers went on to win the Division Three title. Blundell scored 18 goals during the season.

However, many Rovers fans felt that he had reached his level at League one and despite being given chances in the first team, he never managed to achieve the success he had the season before.

Chester City

Blundell was signed by Chester City from Doncaster Rovers for a Club Record Fee in July 2005 (reputedly £105,000). He made a quick impact with Chester, bagging six goals by the end of September 2005 as Chester challenged for promotion from Football League Two. But his season was to lie in tatters after an injury sustained against Rochdale on 7 October 2005. After missing three months out injured, just one more goal was managed before the end of the season. His confidence was still never fully recovered the following season and Chester accepted a nominal bid for Blundell from Darlington as transfer deadline day approached in January 2007.

Darlington

He was re-united with former manager Dave Penney at Darlington. Again the goals did not flow in the rest of the season, but he did score a late penalty equaliser on his return to Chester in April 2007. Apart from a loan spell with Accrington Stanley, Blundell remained at Darlington until the summer of 2009 when he returned to Chester who had just suffered relegation to the Conference National.

Chester and Barrow

Blundell stayed just a half a season with Chester, scoring three goals in eighteen league games, before moving to Barrow AFC on loan as Chester looked to cut costs. With Chester unable to pay their players, Blundell left in January 2010, signing permanently with Barrow.

On 13 March 2010, Gregg scored the only goal of the match as Barrow beat Salisbury City in the 1st Leg of the FA Trophy Semi Final at Salisbury. He remained with Barrow for the following season, but left in June 2011.[2]

Personal life

He graduated from the University of Salford in 2008 with a degree in Physiotherapy[4] and has been studying for a master's degree in Football Rehabilitation at Edge Hill University.[2]

Blundell is the uncle of Tranmere Rovers midfielder James Wallace.[5]

Physiotherapy career

After combining playing football and physiotherapy at Barrow, he retired from professional football at the end of the 2010–11 season and on 21 June 2011 Tranmere Rovers confirmed his appointment as the club's new physiotherapist.[6] Since 2016, he has been a physiotherapist for Liverpool[7]

Honours

As a player

Doncaster Rovers

Barrow AFC

Individual

Physiotherapist

2021–22;[11] runner-up: 2015–16[12]

2018–19;[14] runner-up: 2017–18,[15] 2021–22[16]

2019[17]

2019[18]

Notes and References

  1. All Chester City players' statistics for the 2009/10 season were expunged after Chester were expelled from the Conference National for breaking league regulations
  2. Web site: Blundell Leaves Holker Street. North West Evening Mail. 2 June 2011. 20 June 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121008120614/http://www.nwemail.co.uk/afc/blundell-leaves-holker-street-1.843075?referrerPath=home . 8 October 2012.
  3. Book: Mike . Williams . Tony . Williams . Non-League Club Directory 2014 . 2013 . Tony Williams Publications . 978-1-869833-72-5 . 1006.
  4. My Graduation - July 2008 graduation booklet p. 34, University of Salford, July 2008
  5. News: Sheffield United: Ronnie says Wallace will be worth the wait. 23 August 2014. Sheffield Star. 22 August 2014.
  6. Web site: New Physio For Rovers. 21 June 2011. Tranmere Rovers FC. 21 June 2011.
  7. Web site: Gregg Blundell. Liverpool FC. 24 July 2018.
  8. Web site: Conference end of season awards . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20030702230324/http://www.confguide.com/cgi-bin/news.mpl/2003/06/14/a . 2 July 2003 . ConfGuide.com . 14 June 2003 . 14 March 2023.
  9. Web site: James Milner: Overview . Premier League . 9 August 2020 . 11 May 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180511142538/https://www.premierleague.com/players/2100/James-Milner/overview . live.
  10. News: Chelsea 0–0 Liverpool . Phil . McNulty . BBC Sport . 14 May 2022 . 14 May 2022.
  11. News: Chelsea 0–0 Liverpool . Phil . McNulty . BBC Sport . 27 February 2022 . 27 February 2022.
  12. News: Liverpool 1–1 Manchester City . Phil . McNulty . BBC Sport . 28 February 2016 . 21 December 2017 . 8 March 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180308202103/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35624164 . live.
  13. News: Liverpool 3–1 Manchester City . Shamoon . Hafez . BBC Sport . 30 July 2022 . 30 July 2022.
  14. News: Tottenham Hotspur 0–2 Liverpool . Phil . McNulty . BBC Sport . 1 June 2019 . 1 June 2019 . 1 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210601110124/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48368443 . live.
  15. News: Real Madrid 3–1 Liverpool . Phil . McNulty . BBC Sport . 26 May 2018 . 27 May 2018 . 17 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210417131824/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44258022 . live.
  16. News: Liverpool 0–1 Real Madrid: Reds beaten in Paris as Vinicius Jr hits winner . Phil . McNulty . BBC Sport . 28 May 2022 . 28 May 2022.
  17. News: Liverpool 2–2 Chelsea . Gary . Rose . BBC Sport . 14 August 2019 . 15 August 2019 . 20 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210520222216/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49332825 . live.
  18. News: Liverpool 1–0 Flamengo . Harry . Poole . BBC Sport . 21 December 2019 . 21 December 2019 . 5 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210405103252/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50869633 . live.